9.27.2014

NFL Picks

WEEK 4
Game
Rich
Kevin
NYG @ WAS
WAS
WAS
MIA @ OAK
MIA
MIA
GB @CHI
GB
GB
BUF @ HOU
HOU
HOU
TEN @ IND
IND
IND
CAR @ BAL
BAL
CAR
DET @ NYJ
DET
DET
TB @PIT
PIT
PIT
JAX @ SD
SD
SD
PHI @ SF
SF
SF
ATL @ MIN
ATL
ATL
NO @ DAL
NO
NO
NE @ KC
NE
NE

Standings
Rich
Kevin
Current Week
8-5
7-6
YTD Record
37-24
35-26


9.22.2014

Baseball's Final Week

Greetings one more time, my Young Apprentices.  We’ve had great conversations with the ‘real or fake’ articles.  Alas, the baseball season is nigh unto completion.  You have only a few days to pull out your championship.  So here is the final volume of FAKE or REAL.

· Jason Kipnis: FAKE. Oh Jason, my Jason! Where art thy hits?
· Freddie Freeman: FAKE. Desultory ending for all involved in Atlanta.
· J.D. Martinez: REAL. How did Houston give up on this guy?
· Leonys Martin: REAL. Has finally taken the next step.
· Denard Span: REAL. Is he truly this good? No. Do you care? No.
· Mike Minor: FAKE. Desultory ending for all involved in Atlanta.
· David Price: FAKE. One of the worst pitchers in baseball last 30 days.
· Francisco Liriano: REAL. High risk / high reward.
· Ervin Santana: FAKE: Desultory ending for all involved in Atlanta.
· R.A. Dickey: REAL. Rogers Center is tough. He’s tougher.
· Juan Lagares: FAKE. Out for season or would be REAL.
· Juan Uribe: REAL. Streaky player. Ride him now while hot.
· Lorenzo Cain: REAL. See Uribe, Juan.
· Jake Marisnick: REAL. Is he this good? Unknown. But he’s hot now.
· Billy Hamilton: FAKE. Fatigue in the legs equals no production.
· Jason Heyward: FAKE. Desultory ending for all involved in Atlanta.
· Ryan Zimmerman: REAL. Probably. If available, get him.
· Matt Carpenter: FAKE. Went to Kipnis school of baseball.
· Addison Reed: FAKE. How is he still the closer in Phoenix, Arizona?
· Yordano Ventura: REAL. Strong finish to inconsistent year.
· Yovani Gallardo: REAL. Hah, just kidding. He’s long gone from your roster.
· Jose Quintana: REAL. Strong finish to solid year. More K’s than expected.
· Mike Fiers: REAL. Great comeback story. This time with K’s galore.
· Yusmeiro Petit: REAL. Bochy knows how to manage a pitching staff.
· Jean Segura: FAKE. Finishing with a statement of the obvious.

As previously, the purpose of this exercise is to get you thinking about who can help you NOW.  This is it!

Reputations, pre-season rankings – none of it matters anymore.  Drop the under-performing ‘name’ players and pick up productive ‘no name’ players.  Your team will be glad you did.

9.21.2014

NFL Picks

WEEK 3
Game
Rich
Kevin
TB @ ATL
ATL
ATL
SD @ BUF
SD
BUF
DAL @ STL
DAL
DAL
WAS @ PHI
PHI
PHI
HOU @ NYG
HOU
HOU
MIN @ NO
NO
NO
TEN @ CIN
CIN
CIN
BAL @ CLE
BAL
CLE
GB @ DET
GB
GB
IND @ JAX
IND
IND
OAK @ NE
NE
NE
SF @ ARZ
SF
ARZ
DEN @ SEA
SEA
SEA
KC @ MIA
MIA
MIA
PIT @ CAR
CAR
CAR
CHI @ NYJ
CHI
CHI

Standings
Rich
Kevin
Current Week
11-5
10-6
YTD Record
29-19
28-20

9.17.2014

Keeper Rankings

Another good article  by Tristan Cockcroft.  This one is on the 2015 keeper rankings.

9.11.2014

NFL Picks

WEEK 2
Game
Rich
Kevin
PIT @ BAL
BAL
PIT
MIA @ BUF
BUF
BUF
JAX @ WAS
WAS
JAX
DAL @ TEN
TEN
TEN
ARZ @ NYG
ARZ
ARZ
NE @ MIN
NE
NE
NO @ CLE
NO
NO
ATL @ CIN
CIN
CIN
DET @ CAR
CAR
DET
STL @ TB
TB
TB
SEA @ SD
SEA
SEA
HOU @ OAK
OAK
HOU
NYJ @ GB
GB
GB
KC @ DEN
DEN
DEN
CHI @ SF
SF
SF
PHI @ IND
IND
IND

Standings
Rich
Kevin
Current Week
9-7
7-9
YTD Record
18-14
18-14

9.10.2014

Compassion

Remember my Young Padawans.  It's not compassion if it doesn't cost you something.  Don't listen to a politician who is saying he is spending money on 'helping the middle class' or 'helping those less fortunate' yet using borrowed funds.

It is only true compassion if he is paying for it out of current funds.  And even then it's not his money anyway.

But either way, putting money toward any program using borrowed funds is not compassion.  It is saddling the next generation with a burden which the politician used to advanced his own position of power.  (See Reid, Harry.)

9.06.2014

NFL Picks

WEEK 1
Game
Rich
Kevin
GB @ SEA
SEA
SEA
NO @ ATL
NO
NO
MIN @ STL
STL
MIN
CLE @ PIT
PIT
PIT
JAX @ PHI
PHI
PHI
OAK @ NYJ
NYJ
NYJ
CIN @ BAL
BAL
BAL
BUF @ CHI
CHI
CHI
WAS @ HOU
WAS
HOU
TEN @ KC
KC
KC
NE @ MIA
NE
NE
CAR @ TB
CAR
CAR
SF @ DAL
SF
SF
IND @ DEN
DEN
DEN
NYG @ DET
DET
DET
SD @ ARZ
ARZ
ARZ

Standings
Rich
Kevin
Current Week
8-7
10-5
YTD Record
8-7
10-5



9.05.2014

Finishing Strong in Baseball

So by now it’s you against 2-3 other managers for the league championship.  Well done.  OK, now what?  Which players do you ride to a championship?  Which players do you discard?

Well, my young apprentice.  Here are the answers.
  • Mookie Betts: REAL. Go get him especially if he has SS eligibility in your league.
  • Alex Rios: FAKE. Just a bad year for him. Drop.
  • Desmond Jennings: FAKE. You can’t count potential.
  • Carlos Beltran: FAKE. Hard to hit with one good knee.
  • Aaron Sanchez: REAL. He’ll get you 3 saves this month with great peripherals.
  • Devin Mesoraco: REAL. He’s over his slump. Get him in your lineup.
  • Adam Dunn: REAL. Yes, I’m serious. Fresh start for him in a playoff race.
  • Luis Valbuena: REAL. Take advantage of the middle infielder power.
  • Kennys Vargas: REAL. Take him only if you like power (and a lot of it).
  • Jay Bruce: FAKE. Why did I draft this guy so early?
  • Chris Tillman: REAL. Last couple starts were average but the stuff is there.
  • Steve Pearce: REAL. He's back from a minor injury. Get him in your lineup.
  • Josh Hamilton: FAKE. Good guy. But will not help you.
  • Brock Holt: REAL. Position eligibility allows you to fill lineup every day.
  • Jason Hammel: REAL. Seems to have righted the ship.
  • Miguel González: REAL. He’s not really this good but you don’t care.
  • Kole Calhoun: REAL. Love this guy.  He cooled off but coming back.
  • J.J. Hardy: REAL. Streaky player. Ride him to your championship.
  • Eric O'Flaherty: REAL. Eventually he’ll get a couple save chances.
  • Mike Trout: FAKE. OK, I did that one just for fun.
  • Corey Dickerson: REAL. Breakout year.
  • Eric Hosmer: FAKE. Not his year. Time to move on.
  • Will Myers: See Hosmer, Eric.
  • Mark Trumbo: FAKE. He left his bat in a hotel somewhere.
  • Billy Butler: FAKE. He and Eric Hosmer having the same year.
  • Brandon Phillips: FAKE. Why is this guy rostered on so many teams?
  • Justin Verlander: FAKE. Should not be rostered in any format.
  • Gio Gonzalez: FAKE. Not as good without the Miami connection.
  • Mat Latos: FAKE. Drop him this year. Draft him next year.

Big name guys who are bad right now but may still help you.

·  Hanley Ramirez
·  David Wright (Why is he drafted so high every year?)
·  Jason Kipnis
·  Dustin Pedroia
·  Adam Wainwright
·  Kenley Jansen
·  Glen Perkins
·  Sonny Gray

The purpose of this exercise is to get you thinking about who can help you NOW.  Reputations, pre-season rankings – none of it matters anymore.  Drop the under-performing ‘name’ players and pick up productive ‘no name’ players.  Your team will be glad you did.

This post also available at rotoprofessor.com.

9.01.2014

On Abe Lincoln

As you've seen elsewhere on the website, sometimes I include stuff simply because I feel like it. What follows is one of the greatest speeches in the history of humanity by one of the two greatest Presidents in the history of our great nation. Lincoln was beset by more problems than any other President - lost a son while President, lost three brother-in-laws who were fighting for the opposition, a wife with her own problems, bitter criticism from all sides, etc., etc., etc.

I recently spent a day at the Lincoln museum in Springfield, Illinois --- something I would heartily recommend for all. I believe there's a biblical text to the effect that 'humility comes before honor'. It certainly was the case for Mr. Lincoln. Enjoy:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.